Presidential Office: "Yoon Cannot Accept Trump's Invitation If He Can't Play Golf... That Would Be Rude"

Senior Member Hong Cheol-ho Attends National Assembly Steering Committee
"Golf Can't Be Mastered in a Day or Two"
"Started Practicing Due to Trump's Election Possibility"

Hong Cheol-ho, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs of the Presidential Office, is responding to committee members' questions regarding next year's budget for the Presidential Secretariat, National Security Office, and Presidential Security Service at the National Assembly Steering Committee plenary meeting on the afternoon of the 19th. Photo by Yonhap News.

The Presidential Office stated regarding President Yoon Seok-yeol's golf practice controversy that "the president's sports activities carry more than ordinary significance" and that "not being able to play golf is also a breach of etiquette (in diplomatic relations)."

Hong Cheol-ho, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, attended the full meeting of the National Assembly's Steering Committee on the 2025 budget review that afternoon and said, "There is even such a thing as golf diplomacy."

Senior Secretary Hong explained, "If then-President-elect Donald Trump invited our president to play a round together, and (President Yoon) could not play golf at all, wouldn't it be impossible to accept the round? That too is a breach of etiquette in golf."

He continued, "From my experience, golf is not a sport you can master by practicing once or twice a day for a day or two, so there must have been some prior thought behind the president's weekend golf."

In particular, Senior Secretary Hong pointed out, "I understand that former President Roh Moo-hyun also used the Taereung Golf Course quite frequently, but we never talked about that."

He implied that compared to past presidents, President Yoon's golf practice is not problematic.

Senior Secretary Hong said, "I hope people understand that the president's golf may have a completely different nature from golf played merely as a leisure activity by ordinary people."

Senior Secretary Hong clarified that President Yoon's golf practice is in preparation for 'golf diplomacy' with President-elect Trump.

He said, "The fact that the likelihood of Trump becoming president increased after July 14 is also data for the president's judgment," adding, "Before that, he didn't play at all."

He also said, "(President Yoon) is said not to like golf," and "I heard he really likes baseball."